Mandaluyong City

The City of Mandaluyong (Filipino: Lungsod ng Mandaluyong) is one of the cities and municipalities that comprise Metro Manila in the Philippines. It is bordered on the west by the country's capital, Manila, to the north by San Juan City, to the east by Quezon City and Pasig City, and by Makati City
to the south. At present, its nicknames are "Tiger City of the
Philippines", "Metro Manila's Heart", and the "Shopping Mall Capital of
the Philippines".

Mandaluyong City is located right at the center of Metro Manila.
Among the many attractions in the city is the western half of the Ortigas Center,
one of the major centers of business and commerce in the metropolis
(the eastern half is in Pasig City). Found within the Mandaluyong
portion of the Ortigas Center is the main headquarters of the Asian Development Bank, Banco De Oro, and the headquarters of San Miguel Corporation, Southeast Asia's
largest food and beverage company. One of the most prominent
pharmaceutical laboratories and factories, the UniLab, is located here.

Mandaluyong was first known as a barrio of Sta. Ana de Sapa which was
part of the District of Paco, Province of Tondo. Named San Felipe Neri
by the Spaniards in honor of the Patron Saint of Rome, it was separated
from Sta. Ana de Sapa in 1841.

During the American period, San Felipe Neri was consolidated with the municipality of San Juan del Monte. For several months in 1904, San Felipe Neri became the capital of Rizal province.

However in 1907, San Felipe Neri became an independent municipality
with its separation from San Juan. It was renamed the Municipality of
Mandaluyong by virtue of House Bill No. 3836. It achieved city status in
1994.

Culture and Tourism

Mandaluyong is deemed as the "Shopping Mall Capital of the
Philippines" because of its notable number of shopping and entertainment
hubs. Located in Ortigas Center is Shangri-La Place, a residential and
entertainment district owned by Shangri-La Hotels and Resorts.
It comprises Edsa Shangri-La Manila, St. Francis Towers (one of the
tallest residential towers in the Philippines when built) and Shangri-La Plaza (the only retail arm of the Shangri-La Group in the world) with stores like Gucci, Calvin Klein, Burberry, Dolce and Gabbana, Hugo Boss and Polo Ralph Lauren. To the north is St. Francis Square, SM Megamall (one of the biggest shopping malls and the premier mall of the largest mall chain in Asia) and the upscale retail arm of SM Malls, the Podium.For the blue-collar and low-cost consumers, there's EDSA Central and Star Mall to the Southwest. The Shaw Boulevard MRT Station of the MRT
is a shopping hub itself, besides the fact that the station is
connected to three other malls (Star Mall, Shangri-La Plaza and the
newly renovated EDSA Central). Along EDSA is the Robinson's Place
Pioneer, owned by the second largest retail company in the country.
Another entertainment hub is Liberty Center along Shaw Boulevard, which
consists of Puregold supermarket, Yonex Badminton Court, a row of
restaurants and establishments and home to the newly-constructed Liberty
Park which holds nightly performances from different bands and
musicians. Along Shaw Boulevard is the Wack Wack Golf and Country Club, considered as one of the finest golf courses in the world.

Among locals, Mandaluyong City is often used in jokes and puns
pertaining to a person's mental health (e.g., a person whose mental
well-being is suspect is often labeled as coming from Mandaluyong, the
joke going "sa loob o sa labas?, which translated, means "inside
or outside?"). This is because the National Center for Mental Health,
the country's premier mental health center, is found within the city.

Economy

Commercial Activities

Typical of cities in metropolitan areas, Mandaluyong has its own share of commercial strips and a central business district.

The former, consisting mostly of banks (Map ~ Financial
Institutions), offices and service establishments, stretch along public
transport routes thereby serving both local consumers and passers-by
from the neighboring localities.

Major commercial strips of the city include the stretch of Boni
Avenue, Shaw Boulevard, Libertad-Sierra Madre area, Kalentong, San
Francisco, part of Martinez, Sgt. Bumatay towards Barangka Drive and
Pinatubo towards EDSA.

These activities are mostly concentrated within the EDSA-Shaw-Pioneer area and along Pasig River.

Although prominent in the manufacture of foods, medicines and
laboratory equipment, these industries are gradually declining in
number, opting to relocate in newly-developed industrial zones outside
Metropolitan Manila.

In the Pasig River area, particularly in Barangays Namayan and Mabini
J. Rizal, areas formerly industrial are now the sites for residential
subdivisions and townhouses.

In the EDSA-Shaw-Pioneer area, the transformation is toward a more
economically profitable and globally competitive commercial activity.